CHAPTER ELEVEN

– DWIGHT –

There’s no way I’ll allow Rowan to have an earpiece right now. Not when we just heard what Asher told us through it. Asher and Rox went out to check the yacht. Asher with a high-tech toy to see if he could check for body heat, Rox down below.

Asher was able to spot one person on the yacht. Rox, though? She didn’t come back alone. Apparently, Kate went swimming with the fishes. Indefinitely. Someone tied her body to the anchor.

“We’re going in,” Perrin states through our earpiece.

“Fuck,” Cecil mutters from beside me.

I rip my gaze away from the split screens I was watching. “What’s wrong?”

Cecil points at the screen on his laptop. “Rox said Kate has been down there longer than just a few hours. Then who the hell is walking into the restaurant dressed like her?”

“More importantly, why is that woman wearing a scarf around her head in this heat?” Rowan asks. “And who has been down…oh…do you mean Rox found a body in the water?”

Dammit, I wanted to postpone this discussion, and it’s the reason why she’s not wearing an earpiece.

“Yeah.” A sigh rips from me. “Rox found Kate’s body. She’s the one–”

“With the fake boobs and sugar daddy. The one who likes to keep Lennie’s yacht in the marina so she can lust after the eye candy you guys give her on a daily basis. Yes, I know who she is, Rox told me all about her,” Rowan states. “And if Kate’s dead, then the woman who wants everyone else to think she is Kate must be Caddy, right?”

I’m about to answer her when a loud blast throws everyone in full-blown panic as the building shakes around us.

“Everyone out. Now,” I hear Alwyn bellow.

The frames that were hanging on the wall are broken and scattered on the floor. A huge crack splits the wall across from us and the scent of burning enters my nose.

“You guys need to evacuate. Right fucking now,” Brixton roars when he shoves his head into the room. “The restaurant was just blown to shit and the clubhouse suffered major damage.”

“She wants the panic, Brixton,” I warn. “Caddy is out there. Cecil just spotted her on one of the camera feeds, heading into the restaurant half an hour ago, dressed as Kate.”

“Fuck. We need to double up. We can’t stay here, man. Seriously, look at that shit.” He points at the cracks in the walls. “It’s not safe.”

“Lorelei’s place,” Rowan states. “It’s nearby, right? We can head there.”

Cecil closes his laptop. “Sounds like our best option. Make sure everyone sticks close.”

“I shouldn’t have fucking jinxed myself,” Rowan grumbles. “Me and my big mouth telling everyone it’s not smart to shove all the crucial people in one place to easily blow up.”

I keep my mouth shut and hold out my hand for her to take. There’s no need to remind her Perrin sent people over to check if there was a gas leak. Besides, the restaurant might not have been very busy at this moment, but I’m damn sure there would be at least four or five people in that building when it blew up.

I squeeze our joined hands. “None of that. What’s important is getting to safety and letting the others do their job.”

She warily bobs her head. The others are waiting near the door for us, and after I tell them we’re heading for Lorelei’s place, they turn to slide out in pairs. Alwyn and Dutton have the front, both have their guns drawn. Brixton is holding his gun out and makes sure Marlene is tucked behind his broad back.

Lorelei has Joanne strapped to her chest and has her hands linked with Meadow. We follow the rest out the door. My heart is beating wildly inside my chest. Adrenaline is pumping, and I’m on edge, fully expecting danger at every turn.

The sight of the restaurant burning holds my attention for a split second before I dismiss the horrific visual. Keeping focus on staying alive is more important. I hate to say it, but Caddy is a smart woman who should not be underestimated.

“I know I suggested going to Lorelei’s house, but what if she cut those gas lines too? Shit. Now I’m afraid to step inside any fucking building. What a bitch,” Rowan grumbles.

Brixton glances over his shoulder in my direction. “I hate to say it, but I have to agree with Rowan.”

“Then what do you suggest?” I snap. “We can’t stand here in the open, who the fuck knows what she’ll do.”

“She is going to kill all of you,” Caddy states.

The sound of bullets being fired cracks through the air before I can glance in the direction of where her voice came from. I turn to take Rowan in my arms and blindly aim in the direction of the voice, catching a woman wearing a scarf, exactly the way we saw her on the screen when she walked into the restaurant.

Screams and grunts mix with more gunshots. Caddy’s body jerks and I have her fully in my sight when I steady my aim and finish her off with a head shot. The second I watch her head tip back from the blow of the bullet, I glance away to look at the woman in my arms.

Panic hits me hard to see her slumped against me. Crimson is spreading on her shirt. I gently bring her down to the ground and check where she’s hit. The fabric of her shirt shows a bullet hit her side and I rip it apart to inspect her wound.

“I need an ambulance,” I snap into my earpiece.

Bringing my head up makes my heart freeze inside my chest. Most of my brothers are holding their old ladies in their arms. Blood. So much fucking blood.

“Call the ambulances and doctors, now dammit, now,” I order, hoping there’s someone out there making calls.

Hell, there should have been ambulances called to the scene when the restaurant blew up, right? I press my hands against Rowan’s side and hear her hiss in pain. Thank fuck she’s still alive. At least her injury doesn’t look too bad.

“Are you okay? Injured anywhere else?” I ask.

“It only hurts where you’re putting pressure on. Is that really necessary? Ouch, dammit,” she grumbles.

“Move,” I hear Asher say from behind me.

“She’s shot in her side, not too bad, right?” I state and let Asher look, hoping I’m right about her injury. “The others. You need to check the others too.”

“You’re right. Keep adding pressure. EMTs will be here in a minute or two,” Asher says and jumps up to head in Meadow’s direction as he bellows, “Rox, help Meadow.”

A flow of people starts to swarm us and I have to step away to let EMTs help Rowan. Turning to the others, I swallow hard when I see Marlene being transferred to a stretcher, blood dripping down her arm and the front of her shirt completely crimson.

Dutton is pressing down on a wound on his shoulder, blood dripping through his fingers as he steps into the ambulance where they just placed Alwyn inside. Fucking hell, so many were injured by only one insane person.

Sadness overcomes me at the ruins I’m standing in. Not just the restaurant that’s a lost cause, or the clubhouse that suffered severe damage due to the blast, but it’s the lives tattered and torn who took the hardest blow.

In a haze, I join Rowan in an ambulance to get to the hospital. Hours drag on where they have to operate to remove the bullet. I’m waiting in the waiting room along with Perrin and a few of the others.

Marlene was shot in the chest, but luckily they managed to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet. The baby is fine and Brixton is with her. Alwyn was shot as well as Dutton, both have been treated and share a room.

At least no one died. Though, Hugh has suffered third-degree burns and will need a lot of recovery time. Thank fuck he was able to get everyone out of the restaurant before the blast. Everyone except for himself, because that’s why he suffered the burns. He’s alive, and for now, that’s all that matters.

Buildings can be rebuilt, scars healed, and emotions mended, but living is what connects us with the here and now. It’s what we fucking fight for. Today we fought a battle that could have taken a lot more than what we have now.

And for that, I’m grateful and will call it a victory as I walk into my woman’s room. To see her face. Watch her taking one breath after another while hearing the sweet beat of her heart.

Yeah, even if today was bad…it was a good day because we survived and justice prevailed.